Rapidly degrading GFP-fusion proteins and methods of use

ABSTRACT

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) is widely used as a reporter in determining gene expression and protein localization. The present invention provides fusion proteins with a half life of ten hours or less with several embodiments having half lives of 4 hours or less. Such proteins may be constructed by fusing C-terminal amino acids of the degradation domain of mouse ornithine decarboxylase (MODC), which contains a PEST sequence, to the C-terminal end of an enhanced variant of GFP (EGFP). Fluorescence intensity of the fusion protein in transfected cells is similar to that of EGFP, but the fusion protein, unlike EGFP, is unstable in the presence of cycloheximide. Specific mutations in the MODC region have resulted in mutants with varying half lives, useful for a variety of purposes.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/062,102, filed Apr. 17, 1998.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the field of biochemical assays and reagents.More specifically, this invention relates to modified fluorescentproteins and to methods for their use.

2. Description of the Related Art

Because of its easily detectable green fluorescence, green fluorescentprotein (GFP) from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria has been used widelyto study gene expression and protein localization. GFP fluorescence doesnot require a substrate or cofactor; hence, it is possible to use thisreporter in numerous species and in a wide variety of cells. GFP is avery stable protein which can accumulate and thus is often toxic tomammalian cells.

Recently, crystallographic structures of wild-type GFP and the mutantGFP S65T reveal that the GFP tertiary structure resembles a barrel (Ormoet al. (1996) Science 273: 1392-1395; Yang, F., Moss, L. G., andPhillips, G. N., Jr. (1996) Nature Biotech 14: 1246-1251). The barrelconsists of beta sheets in a compact antiparallel structure. In thecenter of the barrel; an alpha helix containing the chromophore isshielded by the barrel. The compact structure makes GFP very stableunder diverse and/or harsh conditions, such as protease treatment,making GFP an extremely useful reporter in general. On the other hand,its stability makes it difficult to determine short-term or repetitiveevents.

A great deal of research is being performed to improve the properties ofGFP and to produce GFP reagents useful for a variety of researchpurposes. New versions of GFP have been developed via mutation,including a “humanized” GFP DNA, the protein product of which hasincreased synthesis in mammalian cells (see Cormack, et al., (1996) Gene173, 33-38; Haas, et al., (1996) Current Biology 6, 315-324; and Yang,et al., (1996) Nucleic Acids Research 24, 4592-4593). One such humanizedprotein is “enhanced green fluorescent protein” (EGFP). Other mutationsto GFP have resulted in blue-, cyan- and yellow-fluorescent lightemitting versions.

Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is an enzyme critical in the biosynthesisof polyamines. Murine ornithine decarboxylase is one of most short-livedproteins in mammalian cells, with a half life of about 30 minutes(Ghoda, et al., (1989) Science 243, 1493-1495; and Ghoda, et al. (1992)Mol. Cell. Biol. 12, 2178-2185). Rapid degradation of murine ornithinedecarboxylase has been determined to be due to the unique composition ofits C-terminus, a portion of which has a PEST sequence—a sequence whichhas been proposed as characterizing short-lived proteins. The PESTsequence contains a region enriched with proline (P), glutamic acid (E),serine (S), and threonine (T), often flanked by basic amino acids,lysine, arginine, or histidine (Rogers, et al., (1989) Science234:364-68; Reichsteiner, M. (1990) Seminars in Cell Biology 1:433-40).

The ornithine decarboxylase of Trypanosoma brucei (TbODC) does not havea PEST sequence, and is long-lived and quite stable when it is expressedin mammalian cells (Ghoda, et al. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265:11823-11826); however appending the C terminus of murine ornithinedecarboxylase to TbODC makes TbODC become unstable. Moreover, deletionof the C-terminal, PEST-containing region from murine ornithinedecarboxylase prevents its rapid degradation (Ghoda, L., et al. (1989)Science 243: 1493-1495).

The prior art is deficient in a destabilized or short-lived GFP. Thepresent invention fulfills this need in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A rapid turnover or destabilized GFP can be used in researchapplications where prior art GFPs cannot. Such applications includeusing the destabilized GFP as a genetic reporter for analyzingtranscriptional regulation and/or cis-acting regulatory elements, or asa tool for studying protein degradation. Further, a rapid turnover GFPpermits easier development of stable cell lines which express the GFPgene, since toxic levels of GFP are avoided because the GFP protein isdegraded quickly.

The present invention provides a fusion protein with a half lifedecreased markedly from that of wildtype GFP. In one embodiment, thereis provided a fusion protein comprising an EGFP fused to a peptideproducing a destabilized protein. In another embodiment, there isprovided a fusion protein with a half life of about ten hours or less,preferably with a half life of about 4 hours or less, more preferablywith a half life of 2 hours or less and even more preferably with a halflife of 1 hour or less. A preferred embodiment of this aspect of theinvention includes EGFP, and/or a PEST sequence-containing portion of aC-terminus of murine ornithine decarboxylase (MODC). Specific preferredembodiments of the present invention include EGFP-MODC₃₇₆₋₄₆₁;EGFP-MODC₃₇₆₋₄₅₆; EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁; P426A/P427A; P438A;E428A/E430A/E431A; E444A; S440A; S445A; T436A; D433A/D434A; and D448A.

In yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided an isolatedDNA molecule encoding a fluorescent fusion protein with a half life thatis markedly decreased from that of wildtype GFP. In one embodiment ofthis aspect of the invention, there is provided an isolated DNA moleculeencoding a fluorescent fusion protein with a half life of about tenhours or less, preferably with a half life of about 4 hours or less,more preferably with a half life of 2 hours or less and even morepreferably with a half life of 1 hour or less. In a preferred embodimentof this aspect of the invention, the isolated DNA molecule encoding thefluorescent fusion protein is a synthetic GFP gene containing codonspreferentially found in highly expressed human proteins. Further, thepresent invention provides a vector capable of expressing the isolatedDNA molecule encoding a GFP fusion protein with a decreased half life.In one embodiment of the vector, the vector contains an induciblepromoter.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method oflabeling cells with a transient GFP reporter. In this method, a DNAvector comprising an inducible promoter and the isolated DNA encoding aGFP fusion protein with a decreased half life is utilized. This vectoris transfected into cells which are cultured under conditions in whichthe promoter induces transient expression of the GFP fusion protein ofthe present invention, which provides a transient fluorescent label.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic map of EGFP and EGFP-MODC fusion proteins. EGFP isfused with a region of the C terminus of MODC, including amino acidsfrom 376 to 461, 376 to 456 or 422 to 461. The fusion proteins wereexpressed in CHO K1 Tet-off cells and their fluorescence intensitieswere -compared under a fluorescence microscope.

FIG. 2 shows the fluorescence stabilities of EGFP and EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁in cells in the presence of cycloheximide and examined with afluorescence microscope. CHO K1 Tet-off cells were transfected withvectors expressing these two proteins. After 24 hours, the transfectedcells were treated with 100 mg/ml cycloheximide for 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4hours.

FIG. 3 shows flow cytometric analysis of the fluorescence stabilities ofEGFP and EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁. CHO K1 Tet-off cells were transfected withEGFP and EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁. After 24 hours, the transfected cells weretreated with 100 μg/ml cycloheximide for 0, 1, 2, and 3 hours. Thetreated cells were collected with EDTA and 10,000 cells were subjectedto FACS analysis

FIG. 4 is a graph summarizing the flow cytometric data from FIG. 3,demonstrating that EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁-transfected cells rapidly losefluorescence after cycloheximide treatment, whereas EGFP cells maintainfluorescence.

FIG. 5 is a photograph of western blot analysis of protein stabilitiesof EGFP and EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁. Cells collected during flow cytometry wereused for preparing cell lysates. The cell lysates were subject to SDSgel electrophoresis and transferred onto a membrane. EGFP and the EGFPfusion protein were detected with a monoclonal antibody against GFP.

FIG. 6 is a schematic map of the PEST sequence of the fusionEGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ indicating the position of the mutations.

FIG. 7 is a table summarizing the results obtained measuring persistenceof fluorescent signal in transfected CHO K1 Tet-off cells expressingEGFP, EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁, and the PEST mutants. Transfection was performedin CHO/tTA cells using the procedure given in Example 2. After 24 hours,cells were treated with cycloheximide for 0, 2, and 4 hours, andanalyzed for fluorescence by FACS Caliber.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic illustration of d2EGFP, dECFP and dEYFP.

FIG. 9 shows the construction of destabilized EGFP Variants.

FIG. 10 shows the fluorescence stabilities of EGFP and dEGFP Variants.

FIG. 11 shows the increase in induction by CRE-d1EGFP and CRE-d2EGFP.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention describes a genetically-engineered fluorescent proteinthat is destabilized, having a rapid turnover in a cell. Morespecifically, this fusion protein comprises a fluorescent protein whichhas a half life of no more than about ten hours and most preferably witha half life of no more than 2 hours. Preferably, the fluorescent proteinis selected from the group consisting of EGFP, ECFP and EYFP. In oneembodiment, the engineered GFP is a fusion protein of EGFP and a peptidethe inclusion of which produces a destabilized protein. An example ofsuch a peptide is the C-terminal region of murine ornithinedecarboxylase (MODC). In a specific, illustrative case, the degradationdomain of murine ornithine decarboxylase from amino acids 422 to 461 wasappended to the C-terminal end of an enhanced variant of GFP (EGFP). Thefluorescence intensity of the EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ fusion protein intransfected cells was similar to that of EGFP, but the fusion protein,unlike EGFP, dissipated over time in cells treated with cycloheximide.The half-life of the fluorescence of the EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ fusion proteinwas about 2 hours, while that of EGFP was more than 24 hours. Theornithine decarboxylase degradation domain dramatically decreases EGFPstability.

The rapid turnover version of EGFP has at least four advantages overEGFP. The rapid turnover of the EGFP-MODC fusion causes less toxicity tocells expressing the fusion protein. Thus, one advantage is thefeasibility of establishing stable cell lines using DNA coding forEGFP-murine ornithine decarboxylase. Further, the destabilized EGFP-MODCdecreases EGFP accumulation. Accumulation of fluorescent protein caninterfere with the sensitivity of analysis. Thus, the destabilized,rapid turnover fusion protein renders more sensitive results.Additionally, destabilized EGFP can be used as a transient reporter tostudy transcriptional regulation and/or action of cis-acting regulatoryelements. Finally, the EGFP-MODC fusion protein can be used to studyprocesses involving multiple gene expression.

Moreover, the EGFP-MODC fusion protein has the advantages inherent touse of EGFP. For example, the use of EGFP in drug screening assays isparticularly advantageous because GFP fluorescence can be detectedintracellularly without performing additional expensive steps; e.g.lysing cells, adding exogenous substrates or cofactors, fixing the cellpreparation, etc. A single illustration of such an assay is screeningtest compounds for interruption of the TNF activation pathway, a pathwaywhich ultimately affects apoptosis. Compounds identified in the assaywould be useful in controlling the cellular processes involved in cancerand inflammation.

Further, the reporter gene of the present invention can be linked withdifferent enhancer elements and used to monitor diverse biologicalprocesses such as heat response, response to heavy metals,glucocorticoid activation or response to cAMP. In particular,destabilized EGFP is useful for studying developmental processes wheregenes are transiently expressed, dynamics of protein transport,localization of proteins within cells, and periodic and cyclicalexpression of genes that control unique biological phenomena such ascircadian rhythms. Indeed, other applications of the EGFP-MODC fusionprotein in screening assays would be appreciated readily by those havingordinary skill in this art.

Moreover, by using an inducible promoter, expression of the EGFP-MODCfusion protein is activated or deactivated at will, making a constructexpressing the protein useful in cell lineage studies. Prior art GFPmodels express GFP at levels that are toxic and interfere with celldevelopment, thus making cell lineage studies impossible. Additionally,destabilized EGFP can be used as a reporter to study the kinetics ofmRNA transcription from a regulated promoter, because the fluorescenceintensity of destabilized EGFP is a direct measure of the level of geneexpression at any given time point.

As used herein, the term “GFP” refers to the basic green fluorescentprotein from Aequorea victoria, including prior art versions of GFPengineered to provide greater fluorescence or fluoresce in differentcolors. The sequence of A. victoria GFP has been disclosed in Prasher D.C. et al. (1992) Gene 111:229-33.

As used herein, the term “EGFP” refers to GFP which has been“humanized”, as reported in Kain et al. (1995) Biotechniques19(4):650-55. “Humanized” refers to changes made to the GFP nucleic acidsequence to optimize the codons for expression of the protein in humancells.

As used herein, the term “peptide which produces a destabilized protein”refers to a sequence of amino acids or a peptide which promotesdestabilization or rapid turnover of the protein of which it is a part;i.e., by inducing protein degradation. The PEST sequence describedherein is one such sequence. Other sequences known in the art are thosepeptides that promote phosphorylation and protein-protein interactions.

As used herein, the term “EGFP-MODC” refers to EGFP fused at its Cterminus to murine ornithine decarboxylase sequences.

As used herein, the term “P438A” refers to an EGFP-MODC fusion proteinin which the proline at position 438 in the murine ornithinedecarboxylase sequence (a proline residing in the PEST portion of thesequence) has been replaced with alanine. The same nomenclature is usedfor EGFP-MODC mutants P426A/P427A; E428A/E430A/E431A; E444A; S440A;S445A; T436A; D433A/D434A; and D448A. Further elucidation is shown inFIG. 6.

As used herein, the term “half life” refers to the period of time inwhich half of the fluorescent signal from a fluorescent proteinexpressed in cells disappears and half remains.

As used herein, the term “Tc” refers to tetracycline.

As used herein, the term “CHX” refers to cycloheximide.

In accordance with the present invention there may be employedconventional molecular biology, microbiology, and recombinant DNAtechniques within the skill of the art. Such techniques are explainedfully in the literature. See, e.g., Maniatis, Fritsch & Sambrook,“Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (1982); “DNA Cloning: APractical Approach,” Volumes I and II (D. N. Glover ed. 1985);“Oligonucleotide Synthesis” (M. J. Gait ed. 1984); “Nucleic AcidHybridization” (B. D. Hames & S. J. Higgins eds. (1985)); “Transcriptionand Translation” (B. D. Hames & S. J. Higgins eds. (1984)); “Animal CellCulture” (R. I. Freshney, ed. (1986)); “Immobilized Cells and Enzymes”(IRL Press, (1986)); B. Perbal, “A Practical Guide To Molecular Cloning”(1984).

A “vector” is a replicon, such as plasmid, phage or cosmid, to whichanother DNA segment may be attached so as to bring about the replicationof the attached segment.

A “DNA molecule” refers to the polymeric form of deoxyribonucleotides(adenine, guanine, thymine, or cytosine) in either single stranded formor a double-stranded helix. This term refers only to the primary andsecondary structure of the molecule, and does not limit it to anyparticular tertiary forms. Thus, this term includes double-stranded DNAfound, inter alia, in linear DNA molecules (e.g., restrictionfragments), viruses, plasmids, and chromosomes.

A DNA “coding sequence” is a DNA sequence which is transcribed andtranslated into a polypeptide in vivo when placed under the control ofappropriate regulatory sequences. The boundaries of the coding sequenceare determined by a start codon at the 5′ (amino) terminus and atranslation stop codon at the 3′ (carboxyl) terminus. A coding sequencecan include, but is not limited to, prokaryotic sequences, cDNA fromeukaryotic mRNA, genomic DNA sequences from eukaryotic (e.g., mammalian)DNA, and synthetic DNA sequences. A polyadenylation signal andtranscription termination sequence may be located 3′ to the codingsequence.

Transcriptional and translational control sequences are DNA regulatorysequences, such as promoters, enhancers, polyadenylation signals,terminators, and the like, that provide for and/or regulate expressionof a coding sequence in a host cell.

A “promoter sequence” is a DNA regulatory region capable of binding RNApolymerase in a cell and initiating transcription of a downstream (3′direction) coding sequence. For purposes of defining the presentinvention, the promoter sequence is bounded at its 3′ terminus by thetranscription initiation site and extends upstream (5′ direction) toinclude the minimum number of bases or elements necessary to initiatetranscription at levels detectable above background. Within the promotersequence will be found a transcription initiation site, as well asprotein binding domains responsible for the binding of RNA polymerase.Eukaryotic promoters will often; but not always, contain “TATA” boxesand “CAT” boxes. Various promoters, including inducible promoters, maybe used to drive the various vectors of the present invention.

As used herein, the terms “restriction endonucleases” and “restrictionenzymes” refer to bacterial enzymes, each of which cut double-strandedDNA at or near a specific nucleotide sequence.

A cell has been “transformed” or “transfected” by exogenous orheterologous DNA when such DNA has been introduced inside the cell. Thetransforming DNA may or may not be integrated (covalently linked) intothe genome of the cell. In prokaryotes, yeast, and mammalian cells forexample, the transforming DNA may be maintained on an episomal elementsuch as a plasmid. With respect to eukaryotic cells, a stablytransformed cell is one in which the transforming DNA has becomeintegrated into a chromosome so that it is inherited by daughter cellsthrough chromosome replication. This stability is demonstrated by theability of the eukaryotic cell to establish cell lines or clonescomprised of a population of daughter cells containing the transformingDNA. A “clone” is a population of cells derived from a single cell orcommon ancestor by mitosis. A “cell line” is a clone of a primary cellthat is capable of stable growth in vitro for many generations.

A “heterologous” region of the DNA construct is an identifiable segmentof DNA within a larger DNA molecule that is not found in associationwith the larger molecule in nature. Thus, when the heterologous regionencodes a mammalian gene, the gene will usually be flanked by DNA thatdoes not flank the mammalian genomic DNA in the genome of the sourceorganism. In another example, heterologous DNA includes coding sequencein a construct where portions of genes from two different sources havebeen brought together so as to produce a fusion protein product. Allelicvariations or naturally-occurring mutational events do not give rise toa heterologous region of DNA as defined herein.

As used herein, the term “reporter gene” refers to a coding sequenceattached to heterologous promoter or enhancer elements and whose productmay be assayed easily and quantifiably when the construct is introducedinto tissues or cells.

Transcriptional and translational control sequences are DNA regulatorysequences, such as promoters, enhancers, polyadenylation signals,terminators, and the like, which provide for the expression of a codingsequence in a host cell.

The amino acids described herein are preferred to be in the “L” isomericform. However, residues in the “D” isomeric form can be substituted forany L-amino acid residue, as long as the desired functional property ofimmunoglobulin-binding is retained by the polypeptide. NH₂ refers to thefree amino group present at the amino terminus of a polypeptide. COOHrefers to the free carboxy group present at the carboxy terminus of apolypeptide. In keeping with standard polypeptide nomenclature; J Biol.Chem., 243:3552-59 (1969), abbreviations for amino acid residues areshown in the following Table of Correspondence: Y Tyr tyrosine G Glyglycine F Phe Phenylalanine M Met methionine A Ala alanine S Ser serineI Ile isoleucine L Leu leucine T Thr threonine V Val valine P Proproline K Lys lysine H His histidine Q Gln glutamine E Glu glutamic acidW Trp tryptophan R Arg arginine D Asp aspartic acid N Asn asparagine CCys cysteine

It should be noted that all amino-acid residue sequences are representedherein by formulae whose left and right orientation is in theconventional direction of amino-terminus to carboxy-terminus.Furthermore, it should be noted that a dash at the beginning or end ofan amino acid residue sequence indicates a peptide bond to a furthersequence of one or more amino-acid residues. The above Table ispresented to correlate the three-letter and one-letter notations whichmay appear alternately herein.

Thus, the present invention is directed to a fusion protein comprisingGFP so that the resulting fusion protein has a half life of no more thanabout ten hours and as little as less than one hour. In a preferredform, the GFP is EGFP. Preferably, the fusion protein comprises EGFPfused to a PEST sequence-containing portion of a C-terminus of murineornithine decarboxylase (MODC). Representative examples of PESTsequence-containing portion of a C-terminus of murine ornithinedecarboxylase include MODC₃₇₆₋₄₆₁, MODC₃₇₆₋₄₅₆, MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁,P426A/P427A, P438A, E428A/E430A/E431A, E444A, S440A, S445A, T436A,D433A/D434A and D448A. One example of the GFP fusion protein of thepresent invention has the sequence shown in SEQ ID No. 1.

The present invention is also directed to an isolated DNA moleculeencoding the fusion protein which comprises a fluorescent proteinselected from the group consisting of EGFP, ECFP and EYFP. One exampleof the isolated DNA of the present invention has the sequence shown inSEQ ID No: 2. The present invention is also directed to a vector capableof expressing this isolated DNA molecule. In one form, the vectorcontains a inducible promoter and is a tetracycline-regulated expressionvector.

The present invention is also directed to a method of producing a stablecell line that expresses a fluorescent protein, e.g., GFP, comprisingthe step of transfecting cells with a vector disclosed herein.

In addition, the present invention is directed to a method of assayingactivation or deactivation of promoters or other transcriptional ortranslational elements with a transient fluorescent reporter protein,comprising the steps of transfecting cells with an expression vectorcomprising a fusion protein having a half life of no more than about tenhours, preferably less than four hours and most preferably less than onehour, wherein the fusion protein is under the influence of the promoter,transcriptional or translational element, and detecting the presence,absence or amount of fluorescence in said cells. In this method, theamount of fluorescence present in the cell is a measure of thefluorescent protein that is being expressed. Detecting differences influorescence intensity between cells expressing the fluorescent proteinunder different transcriptional or translational elements of interest isa rapid a and straightforward procedure to measure effects of thesetranscriptional or translational elements. Further, an additional stepmay be performed wherein transfected cells are treated with a compoundof interest to determine the effect of the compound of interest on thetranscriptional or translational elements. Detecting a change influorescence upon treatment of the cells with the compound of interestis a rapid and straightforward procedure to measure the effects of thecompounds on interest on the transcription or translation of theexpressed fusion protein.

In addition, the present invention is directed to methods of studyingcell lineage comprising the steps of transfecting undifferentiated cellswith a vector capable of expressing the destabilized fluorescent fusionprotein of the present invention, growing the undifferentiated cellsunder conditions in which the undifferentiated cells becomedifferentiated cells, and detecting an absence or presence offluorescence in the differentiated cells. Further, the present inventionprovides a method of using a fusion protein described herein in celllocalization studies, comprising the steps of transfecting cells with anexpression vector comprising a fluorescent fusion protein having a halflife of no more than ten hours and preferably less than four hours,wherein the fusion protein is linked to a putative cell localizationelement, growing the cell and detecting a location of fluorescence inthe cells.

EXAMPLE 1

Construction of DNA Expression Vectors

The cDNAs encoding EGFP and the C terminus of murine ODC (MODC) wereamplified with pfu DNA polymerase (Stratagene, Inc., La Jolla, Calif.).EGFP was amplified with a pair of primers: 5′ incorporated with a SacIIrecognition sequence and 3′ with a Hind III sequence. The stop codon ofEGFP was deleted from its C-terminus in order to make an open readingframe with the C terminus of murine ODC. The C terminus of murine ODCwas also amplified with a pair of primers: 5′ incorporated with a HindIII recognition sequence and 3′ with an EcoRI sequence. Two amplifiedPCR products were ligated at the Hind III site and the fusion was clonedinto pTRE expression vector, Tc-regulated expression system (Gossen M.,and Bujard H. (1992) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 89: 5547-5551).

Using these methods, fusion proteins of EGFP-MODC were constructed. TheEGFP-MODC₃₇₆₋₄₆₁ fusion protein included the complete C-terminus ofmurine ornithine decarboxylase. EGFP-MODC₃₇₆₋₄₅₆ and EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁included only portions of the murine ornithine decarboxylase degradationdomain, though both included the PEST sequence. Further, key amino acidsof the PEST sequence in the fusion protein were then mutated to alanineusing a homology extension procedure (Rogers, et al., (1986) Science234, 364-368). The PEST mutants included P426A/P427A; P438A;E428A/E430A/E431A; E444A; S440A; S445A; T436A; D433A/D434A; and D448A.

EXAMPLE 2

Cell Transfection

The construct DNAs were purified and transfected into CHO K1-off cellsfor determination of protein degradation. CHO K1-off cells are CHO cellswhich were pre-transfected by a fusion protein of the tet-repressor andthe herpes simplex virus VP16 gene (tTA). This pre-transfection allowsexpression of the gene coding for the fusion protein on a pTRE vector(Gossen and Bujard, ibid), which in turn initiates transcription bybinding to a modified CMV promoter with tet-repressor binding elements.This binding can be blocked by tetracycline; hence, the expression canbe controlled by tetracycline. The DNAs were introduced into these cellsby CLONfectin (CLONTECH Laboratories, Inc., Palo Alto). After 24 hours,transfected cells were subject to functional analyses.

EXAMPLE 3

Fluorescence Analysis

Cells were cultured on top of cover-slips to allow observation under afluorescence microscope. After transfection, the cells were incubated at37° C. for 24 hours on the cover-slips and then fixed with 4%paraformaldehyde for 30 minutes. The cover-slips were mounted on a glassslide for fluorescence examination with a Zeiss Axioskop Model 50fluorescent microscope. To determine protein turnover, the cells weretreated with cycloheximide at a final concentration of 100 μg/ml forvariable times before paraformaldehyde fixation.

For FACS analysis, the transfected cells as well ascycloheximide-treated cells were collected by EDTA treatment and thecell pellets were resuspended in 0.5 ml of PBS. The cell suspensionswere then analyzed for fluorescence intensity by FACS Calibur (BectonDickson, Inc., San Jose, Calif.). EGFP was excited at 488 nm, andemission was detected using a 510/20 bandpass filter.

EXAMPLE 4

Western Blot Analysis

For western blot analysis, transfected control cells as well ascycloheximide-treated cells were collected in PBS and sonicated toprepare cell lysates. Proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE. EGFP and MODCfusion proteins were detected by a monoclonal antibody against GFP afterthe proteins were transferred onto a membrane. The detection wasvisualized with a chemiluminescent detection kit (CLONTECH).

EXAMPLE 5

Determination of EGFP-MODC Protein Stability

The C terminus of murine ornithine decarboxylase, from amino acids 376to 461, has been shown to induce TbODC degradation in mammalian cells.To demonstrate that the degradation domain could also induce EGFPdegradation, murine ODC sequence was appended to the C-terminal end ofEGFP to make a first fusion EGFP-MODC construct (FIG. 1). TheEGFP-MODC₃₇₆₋₄₆₁ fusion construct was expressed with the Tc-regulatedexpression vector (pTRE). Fluorescence intensity of the EGFP-MODC₃₇₆₋₄₆₁fusion protein was examined under a fluorescence microscope after beingtransiently expressed in CHO K1-off cells. The fluorescence intensity ofthe EGFP-MODC₃₇₆₋₄₆₁ fusion protein was very low (FIG. 1). Although itwas believed that the lower fluorescence of the protein was due to rapiddegradation, an EGFP fusion protein with such a low signal intensitywould not be useful for most research applications.

If the rapid degradation indeed accounted for the lower fluorescence ofthe EGFP-MODC₃₇₆₋₄₆₁, the fluorescence intensity the fusion proteincould be increased by decreasing the rate of its degradation. The sizeof the C-terminal extension of murine ornithine decarboxylase candetermine the rate of degradation. Deletion from either end of thedegradation domain has yielded truncated proteins with a decreased rateof degradation, and removal of the last five amino acids from murineornithine decarboxylase dramatically decreases degradation of murineornithine decarboxylase (Ghoda, L., et al. (1992) Mol. Cell. Biol. 12,2178-2185). A TbODC fusion with a smaller extension starting at aminoacid 422 has degraded more slowly than the longer extension starting atamino acid 376 (Li, X., and Coffino, P. (1993) Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:2377-2383). Therefore two smaller extensions, one from amino acids 376to 456 and the other from 422 to 461, also were appended to theC-terminus of EGFP to make EGFP-MODC₃₇₆₋₄₅₆ and EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ (FIG.1). Both of these fusion proteins contain the PEST sequence. Aftertransfection, the fluorescence intensities of both fusion proteins wereexamined with fluorescence microscopy. Results indicated that both had ahigher relative fluorescence intensity than EGFP-MODC₃₇₆₋₄₆₁,particularly the fusion protein EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁. As can be seen in FIG.1, the fluorescence of this latter fusion protein is similar to EGFP.

EXAMPLE 6

Further Characterization of EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ Protein Stability

Next, it was determined whether the C terminal extension from aminoacids 422 to 461 was able to induce EGFP degradation in vivo. To dothis, the construct first was transiently transfected into CHO K1-offcells, and the half life of the fusion protein was determined byblocking protein synthesis with cycloheximide (CTX). At 24 hourspost-transfection, the cells were treated with 100 μg/ml cycloheximidefor 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours. The change in fluorescence intensity of thetransfected cells was examined by fluorescence microscopy, and theresults are shown in FIG. 2. The fluorescence intensity of the fusionprotein in the cells gradually decreased as cycloheximide treatment wasextended, indicating that the EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ fusion protein isunstable. After 4 hours of treatment with cycloheximide, less than halfof the fluorescent intensity existed compared to the intensity of thefluorescence of the cells time zero. These results indicated that thehalf life of the fusion protein is less than 4 hours.

The EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ was then compared to EGFP in the same assay. Therewas no significant change in the fluorescence intensity of EGFP in theEGFP-transfected cells four hours after protein synthesis stopped (FIG.2), indicating the half life of EGFP is longer than 4 hours. This isconsistent with other reports on GFP. This result supports theconclusion that EGFP is a stable protein when expressed in mammaliancells and that the protein product of the EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ construct isunstable.

In order to determine more accurately the half lives of the EGFP-MODCfusion protein and EGFP, the change in fluorescence of these twoproteins was quantified by flow cytometry. Transfected cells, aftertreatment with cycloheximide for 0, 1, 2 and 3 hours, were collectedwith EDTA, and 10,000 cells were subjected to FACS analysis. The resultsagreed with the fluorescence microscope observations; i.e., thefluorescence of the fusion protein gradually decreased as cycloheximidetreatment was extended (FIG. 3).

The graph in FIG. 4 summarizes the FACS data and shows thatapproximately 50% of untreated cells maintained fluorescence after 2hours of cycloheximide treatment, indicating that the half life of thefusion protein is about 2 hours. EGFP-transfected cells were subjectedto similar analysis, and results showed that the EGFP fluorescence didnot change significantly during treatment with cycloheximide. Indeed,after 4 hours of cycloheximide treatment, EGFP cells still had more than80% of fluorescence relative to untreated EGFP cells. In short, the halflife of the EGFP fusion is suitably reduced and the half life of EGFP issignificantly more than 4 hours.

Cycloheximide treatment cannot be prolonged for greater than 4 hourssince it is toxic to cells, causing apoptosis. However, because theinducible expression system used in these studies is regulated bytetracycline (Gossen M., and Bujard H. (1992) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 89:5547-5551), EGFP synthesis can be stopped simply by adding tetracycline.To determine more precisely the half life of EGFP, the fluorescenceintensities of EGFP transfected cells after 24 hours, in both thepresence and absence of tetracycline, was monitored. EGFP first wasallowed to be expressed for 24 hours after transfection. The transfectedcells then were cultured in the presence or absence of tetracycline foranother 24 hours and collected for analysis by flow cytometry. Nodifference in fluorescent intensity was detected between these two typesof cells (−TC and +TC in the bottom panel of FIG. 3), indicating thatfluorescence did not change in the 24 hours after EGFP protein synthesisshut-off. These results indicate that the half life of EGFP is more than24 hours.

To examine if the half life of the EGFP and the EGFP fusion protein ofthe present invention correlated with the amount of fluorescence,degradation of the fusion protein was monitored by western blotanalysis. Both the EGFP and EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ transfected cells that wereused for flow cytometry in FIG. 3 were also used for Western blotanalysis with a monoclonal antibody against GFP. As shown in FIG. 5, nodetectable change in the level of EGFP protein was found among cellstreated for 0-3 hours with cycloheximide, indicating that EGFP is stableduring 3 hour cycloheximide treatment.

EGFP fusion proteins with the MODC modification of the present inventionwere also detected by a GFP monoclonal antibody. The size of the fusionprotein was about 31 kDa. Unlike EGFP, however, the EGFP fusion proteinwas unstable. The level of the fusion protein fell dramatically by theend of the 3-hour cycloheximide treatment; in fact, less than one halfof the control EFGP fusion protein was left at one hour, indicating thatthe half life of the fusion protein may be one hour or less. Thedifference in the measured half life using flow cytometry versus westernblot analysis likely is due to the fact that both premature (i.e.non-fluorescent) and mature GFP are detected by western analysis.However, the formation of EGFP chromophore is post-translational andproceeds with a half-time of about 25 minutes (Cormack, et al., (1996)Gene 173, 33-38). GFP in the context of this invention is important atits fluorescence level as a reporter, rather than at a protein level—thehalf life of EGFP fluorescence is more important. The fluorescence halflife of EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ in vivo is approximately 2 hours.

The amino acid sequence of the EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ protein is as follows:

MVSKGEELFTGVVPILVELDGDVNGHKFSVSGEGEGDATYGKLTLKFICTTGKLPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPDHMKQHDFFKSAMPEGYVQERTIFFKDDGNYKTRAEVKFEGDTLVNRIELKGIDFKEDGNILGHKLEYNYNSHNVYIMADKQKNGIKVNFKIRHNIEDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGDGPVLLPDNHYLSTQSALSKDPNEKRDHMVLLEFVTAAGITLGMDELYKKLSHGFPPEVEEQDDGTLPMSCAQ ESGMDRHPAACASARINV(SEQ ID No:1); and the DNA sequence which encodes the EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁protein is as follows: atgg tgagcaaggg cgaggagctg ttcaccgggg tggtgcccatcctggtcgag ctggacggcg acgtaaacgg (SEQ ID No: 2) ccacaagttc agcgtgtccggcgagggcga gggcgatgcc acctacggca agctgaccct gaagttcatc tgcaccaccggcaagctgcc cgtgccctgg cccaccctcg tgaccaccct gacctacggc gtgcagtgcttcagccgcta ccccgaccac atgaagcagc acgacttctt caagtccgcc atgcccgaaggctacgtcca ggagcgcacc atcttcttca aggacgacgg caactacaag acccgcgccgaggtgaagtt cgagggcgac accctggtga accgcatcga gctgaagggc atcgacttcaaggaggacgg caacatcctg gggcacaagc tggagtacaa ctacaacagc cacaacgtctatatcatggc cgacaagcag aagaacggca tcaaggtgaa cttcaagatc cgccacaacatcgaggacgg cagcgtgcag ctcgccgacc actaccagca gaacaccccc atcggcgacggccccgtgct gctgcccgac aaccactacc tgagcaccca gtccgccctg agcaaagaccccaacgagaa gcgcgatcac atggtcctgc tggagttcgt gaccgccgcc gggatcactctcggcatgga cgagctgtac aag-aagctt-agccatg gcttcccgcc ggaggtggaggagcaggatg atggcacgct gcccatgtct tgtgcccagg agagcgggat ggaccgtcaccctgcagcct gtgcttctgc taggatcaat gtgtagatgc.

EXAMPLE 7

Analysis of the PEST Sequence

The C terminus of mouse ornithine decarboxylase contains a PEST sequencefrom amino acids 423 to 449. There are three proline residues, fourglutamic acid residues, two serine residues, and one threonine residue(FIG. 6). To evaluate the contribution of each amino acid in the PESTmotif to the rate of protein degradation, each Pro, Glu, Ser, and Thrresidue in the PEST region of EGFP-MODC fusion protein was mutated toAla. Degradation was monitored by the change of fluorescence. Eachconstruct was transiently transfected into CHO K1-off cells. Aftertreatment in the presence of cycloheximide for 0, 2, and 4 hours, thecells were collected for flow cytometry analysis. Data are shown in FIG.7.

Mutation of the proline residue at amino acid 438 stabilized theprotein. After 4 hours of cycloheximide treatment, the percentage offluorescent cells was still greater than 60%. Thus, the half life of theP438A mutant is more than double that of EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ suggestingthat the existence of proline at 438 contributes to the instability ofthe fusion protein. Mutation of the prolines at amino acid positions 426and 427 did not extend the half life. Instead, the half life ofP426A/P427A is even shorter than that of EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁, indicatingthat these proline residues may stabilize the protein. Similar resultswere obtained with mutations to the glutamine and serine in the fusionconstruct. The half lives of mutant E444A and S440A are longer than thatof that EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁, but E428A/E430A/E431A and S445A became moreunstable, with only 20% or 29% of the cells retaining fluorescence aftertwo hours of treatment.

The PEST sequence is often flanked by basic amino acids (Rogers, et al.,(1986) Science 234, 364-368). To show the involvement of these flankingamino acid residues in protein instability, histidine 423, arginine 449and histidine 450 were mutated to alanine. Substitutions of alanine forthe arginine and histidine at positions 449 and 450 dramaticallyincreased protein stability, suggesting that these two amino acids arerequired for efficient protein degradation. Mutation of the His at aminoacid 423 did not change protein stability.

EXAMPLE 8

Cell Line Expressing dEGFP with Tet Expression System

CHO K1-tet off cells were transfected with pTRE-EGFPMODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ andpTK-hygromycin. The transfection was performed with a CLONfectin kit(CLONTECH). The transfected cells were selected in the presence of 200μg/ml hygromycin and resistant colonies were screened for fluorescenceunder a fluorescent microscope. The individual single colonies of thefluorescent cells were transferred to new plates. As in the transientlytransfected cells, destabilized EGFP in the stably-transfected cells wasregulated by tetracycline, and degradation was detectable by addingcycloheximide to block protein synthesis. The resultingstably-transfected cell line can be used for many analyses, includingdrug screening; in particular, it can be used to screen for drugs thatblock either the transcriptional induction of destabilized EGFP duringthe transition from the presence of tetracycline to the absence oftetracycline, or for drugs that inhibit protein degradation after theaddition of cycloheximide.

EXAMPLE 9

Destabilized ECFP and EYFP

CFP (cyan) and YFP (yellow) are color variants of GFP. CFP and YFPcontain 6 and 4 mutations, respectively. They are Tyr66Try, Phe66Leu,Ser65Thr, Asn145Ile, Met153Thr, and Val163Ala in CFP and Ser65Gly,Val68Leu, Ser72Ala, and Thr203Tyr. The enhanced CFP (ECFP) and YFP(EYFP) are encoded by genes with human-optimized codons. ECFP is excitedat 433 nm and emits at 475 nm. EYFP is excited at 523 or 488 nm andemits at 527 nm.

Using the same strategy described above to create dEGFP, dECFP and dEYFPwere generated by appending the C terminus of mouse ornithinedecarboxylase to the C terminus of each of these two proteins (FIG. 8).The half-lives of dECFP and dEYFP were determined by transfectingpTRE-dECFP and pTRE-dEYFP into CHO/tTA cells, stopping protein synthesisby adding CHX, and subjecting to fluorescence microscopy. Both proteinswere unstable in the presence of CHX. Two hours after treatment withCHX, half of fluorescence of these two proteins disappear indicatingsubstantially reduced half lives for these proteins as compared to wildtype.

These two color variants of destabilized proteins can be used togetherfor two-color detection. For example, the dECFP gene can be linked tothe NFkB binding sequence and the dEYFP to the NFAT binding sequence.Introduction of these two reporter fusions to a single cell allowsdetection simultaneous of two transcription factors or two signalingpathways simply by monitoring the relative fluorescence of the twocolors.

EXAMPLE 10

Degradation Rate and Induction Fold of dEGFP

By mutating key amino acids of the PEST sequence of dEGFP, a number ofmutants with different half lives were created. They were designatedd1EGFP and d4EGFP, reflective of their half lives (FIG. 9). The d1EGFPmutant has a half-life of less than 1 hour and the d4EGFP mutant has ahalf-life of approximately 4 hours (FIG. 10). The EGFP-MODC₄₂₂₋₄₆₁ wasdesignated d2EGFP because its half-life is about 2 hours.

The outstanding character of dEGFP proteins, when compared to EGFP, isthat they exhibit a rapid turnover resulting in less accumulation of thedestabilized proteins even at basal-level activity. Therefore, d2EGFP isa much more sensitive transcription reporter that EGFP, as has beendemonstrated with the system of TNF-mediated NFkB activation. Becaused1EGFP has a shorter half-life than d2EGFP, d1EGFP is more sensitivethan d2EGFP when used as a transcription reporter. To illustrate this,d1EGFP and d2EGFP genes were linked to cAMP regulated element (CRE) andtheir responses to forskolin for each fusion construct tested. Four-foldinduction was obtained when d2EGFP was used as the reporter, howevermore than 12-fold induction was achieved when d1EGFP used (FIG. 11).These results indicate that a more rapid turnover of the GFP molecueachieves higher induction and enhanced sensitivity.

Any patents or publications mentioned in this specification areindicative of the levels of those skilled in the art to which theinvention pertains. These patents and publications are hereinincorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individualpublication was specifically and individually indicated to beincorporated by reference.

One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the presentinvention is well adapted to carry out the objects and obtain the endsand advantages mentioned, as well as those inherent therein. The presentexamples along with the methods, procedures, treatments, molecules, andspecific compounds described herein are presently representative ofpreferred embodiments, are exemplary, and are not intended aslimitations on the scope of the invention. Changes therein and otheruses will occur to those skilled in the art which are encompassed withinthe spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the claims.

1-17. (canceled)
 18. A method of assaying activation or deactivation oftranscriptional or translational elements with a transient fluorescentreporter protein, comprising the steps of: transfecting cells with anexpression vector comprising a fluorescent protein fusion protein havinga half life of no more than about ten hours, wherein the fusion proteinis under the influence of the promoter, transcriptional or translationalelement; and detecting the presence, absence or amount of fluorescencein said cells.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the amount offluorescence present in the cell is a measure of the fluorescent proteinthat is being expressed.
 20. A method of assaying activation ordeactivation of promoters or other transcriptional or translationalelements with a transient fluorescent protein reporter protein,comprising the steps of: transfecting cells with an expression vectorcomprising a fluorescent fusion protein having a half life of no morethan about ten hours, wherein the fluorescent fusion protein is under aninfluence of said promoter, transcriptional or translational element;treating said transfected cells with a compound of interest; anddetecting a change in fluorescence upon treatment of the cells with saidcompound of interest so as to assay the effect of said compound ofinterest on said activation or deactivation of said transcription ortranslation elements.
 21. A method of studying cell lineage, comprisingthe steps of: transfecting undifferentiated cells with a vectorexpressing the destabilized fusion protein of claim 1; growing saidundifferentiated cells under conditions in which the undifferentiatedcells become differentiated cells; and detecting an absence, presence orlocation of fluorescence in the differentiated cells.
 22. A method ofusing a fusion protein of claim 1 in cell localization studies,comprising the steps of: transfecting cells with an expression vectorcomprising a GFP fusion protein having a half life of no more than tenhours, wherein the fusion protein is linked to a putative celllocalization element; growing the cell; and detecting a location offluorescence in the cells.